Transfer device



March 174., 1964 H, L. BRmKMAN Emu. 3,125,232

TRANSFER @Ew-QE Fue-a Aug. 1n, 19e; 4 sheets-sheet 2 IIIIIILl'r'wszvroles. HAROLD [..BRINKMAN BYoLn/Epz J. sAARI j MMMM ATTORNEY.

March 17, 1964 Filed Aug. 10, 1961 H. L. BRINKMANI ETAL TRANSFER DEVICEFIG. .4 f/

POSITION 2 I 26 I l ms oursms.

sh F7" E 7^ '4 s vII 275 27a SV 27a g-/b j I A I 4 B \-\--Pos['r|oN o45a `-45h y o I\ I/ INNER DOOR CART IB lOUTER DOOR.

SEAL I INNER DOOR OUTER DOOR s sh '5 srs Y DOOR CLOSED -SM 5 FIG. 6

S' 2 INVENTaRs. 5,2 u, HAROLD L BRINKMAN a' OLIVER J'. sAAFu s'l BY DooROPEN :y ,y

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent C) 3,125,232 TRANSFER DEViCE Harold L. Brinkman,Flushing, and @liver l. Saarl, Brewster, NX., assignors to AmericanMachine di Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 10,1961, Ser. No. 130,676 Claims. (Cl. 21d-17) This invention relates to adevice enabling the trans-fer of packages and equipment in and out of laclosed space such as the cell olf a nuclear reactor.

ln the course of conducting various operations, such as when dealingwith nuclear reactors or toxic bacterial substances, it is necessary toisolate the material in a closed cell to protect operators fromexposure. During such operations, it is oiten desirable to pass itemsthrough, the enclosed cell wall. Heretoiore, because of the lack of .apractical device to safely effect transfer of material through the cellwall, it has generally been customary to use elaborate arrangements suchas large polyethylene isolation sacks o-ver openings or to shut down theoperation and lwait until a safe condition prevails in the enclosure sothat the cell could be opened with safety.

The present invention intends to provide a means for safely passingmaterial through a cell wall by an automatic device which at all times,whether the device is operating or inactive, provides adequate shieldingagainst cross contamina-tion of the atmospheres separated by the Aval-l.The invention is `accomplished by an arrangement comprising acoordinated unit including a transfer cart to carry the material and :apair of doors which are interl-ocked .to prevent opening of both doorssimultaneously.

It 4is the principal object of the present invention to provide a devicesuitable for transferring articles through a Wall separating a closespace wthout exposure of the atmosphere from one side of the wall .tothe other.

It is a more particular object of the invention to provide a devicepermitting transfer of articles through the Wall isolating a nuclearreactor without interrupting the reaction or without the necessity ofutilizing auriliary enclosures or other means to isolate a radioactiveenvironment tf1-om a normal environment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a wall unit ofautomatic operation with fail-proof safety features which comprise apair lof doors, interloc'ked to prevent opening of more than one -at anytime and a transfer cart movable in through the wall space and dooropening.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing description and from the drawings in which:

IFIG. l is a side View in cross section of the device of the inventionillustrating one of the doors in open position with the transfer cartsituated between the doors.

FK?. 2 is a plan View of the device shown in FlG. 1 with tone of theshielding doors in the open position but with the transfer cart omitted.

FIG. 3 is a view facing a wall into which the device of .the inventionis situated and taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FG. l.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the transfer cart positioned in the wallopening taken substantially along the line 4--4 of FIG. l.

FIG. 5a is a detailed view of the door camming arrangement.

FiG. 5 b is a vector illustration `of the relative horizontal andvertical motions associated with the door sealing action.

FIG. 6 is la diagrammatic illustration of a wiring diagram demonstratingan appropriate electrical interlock for the doors and cart.

In the detailed description which follows, the device of the inventionwill he explained in conjunction with a nuclear reactor but it will beapparent that the invention may be applied to any operation whe-rein itis desirable to transfer articles of material through a wall which forms`the separation `of adjacent areas. Thus, in addition to nuclearreactors, the invention may be applied for example to enclosures housing:biological studies, furnaces, jet fuel consumption test facilities, andthe like.

Referring .to FIGS. l `and 2 of the drawing, the invention is shown as auni-t inserted within an opening 11 formed in the Wall 1li. Numeral 12refers to a wall liner such as steel or other metal for the opening inthe Wall. The unit 13 which forms Ithe apparatus of the inventioncomprises a metal frame 114 with `appropriate filler concrete shielding15 having the saine density as used in the barrier or wall. Where totalshielding thickness inside the unit .is reduced due to cavities,sufficient high density shielding such as lead is added to afford ashield at least comparable to that offered by the wall.

The voids from between the unit i3 and the wall liner are llled withsuitable Wall seal-ing compound 2d. Supported on the frame 14 are doorsy16 and 17 of a substantially semi-cylindrical con-figuration; an innerdoo-r 16 and an outer door 17, suitably mounted so that they are pivotedin their operation to open and closed position. it will be understoodthat doors of other suitable configuration rnay :also be utilized inconjunction with the concept of the present invention. The door 1o isillustrated in lopen position while door 17 is closed. Each doo-r issupported and guided in ope-ration so that it rotates at a slightlyspaced relationship from the door recess formed in the frame 14; thisprevents wear. Upon .alignment in the closed position and when fullyclosed, the door is oammed against the door recess at the trame 14 so asto form a tight seal. This arrangement permits easy movement whenuncarnmed from the sealed lit and prevents the loss of Ia .substantiallypermanent tight seal due to wear which might occur after substantialoperation of the door with passage of time as would likely occur if thedoor were 4p-ivoted in Contact with the frame. Within the `Wall openingbetween the doors y16 and 17 is a transfer cart 1d employed for movementof the articles to and from the enclosed seal. The transfer cart 1S isarranged to move on a track. The track comprises lthree sections: tracksection `19 on the dat outer portion of the inner door v1li, the section2li in the space between the two doors and section 2.1 on the outer`llat face of the door `17. The cart is positively driven by a centerrack Z2 (see FlG. 2) positioned between the .tracks Icooperating with .adrive pinion 23 (see FIG. 4) on the transfer cart 1S.

The doo-rs 16 and 17 are positively driven by the door actuating cable2c riding over the pulleys 39. lt will be Iappa-rent that in addition tothe cab-le 26 other conventional door actuating means such as a chain,or system of levers or gears may be utilized. The cable 26 is attachedto a suitable mounting on the door 2S at one end and suitable:reversible drive motor (not shown) at the other end. It will beunderstood that other means such as a reversible motor can also bearranged to actuate the doors using a gearrnotor and drum located inplace of the pulleys, for example. The pulleys 39 are supported bysuitable mounts 33 (see FIG. 3). In the arrangement shown, the weight ofrthe door is employed to edeot the opening lthrough a reversible drivemotor as the tension of lthe cable is gradually released. The doors aremounted so as to pivot at 3d 'while being guided and supported by thepivot arm 29. The other end of the arm 29 is attached to a pivot mount28. The movement of the door from closed position is: initial unsealingof the door by slight lateral movement effected by a oamming action;then a conjoint pivotal and lateral movemen-t as the door opens to afull stop. The mount 28 is constructed so that when 4the door is inclosed position Si the cam action is effected at 3l to :seal landunsea-l the door, using suitable means for example such as pneumaticlocking cylinder 4@ or a hydraulic arrangement (not shown). The doorsmay comprise metal and/or concrete.

The door is further guided by an arrangement of a guide roller 32positioned in a suitable slot 33 to afford a more stable movement of thedoor. A pivot arm stop 34 stops the opening of the door beyond the trackalignment position by abutting it against the arm 29. The recess 35 inthe door permits free movement of the arm 29.

The camming action, described in greater detail by reference to FIGS. 5aand 5b, is obtained through the geometrical relationship of the cable216, the center of gravity of the door 17, the arm 29 and the roller 32.The initiation of the camming action is effected by the cable 26 whensealing the door 17 to the frame ld and by the door weight whenunsealing. The sealing action only will be described as the unsealingutilizes the same principle except by reverse motions.

FIG. 5a illustrates the door i7 in position l, just prior to sealing,and then in position 2, its nal sealed position. As the cable 26 raisesthe upper end of the door 17, two actions occur. First, the roller 32raises in its guide and the arm 29 pivots on its pin 2S. The resultantof these actions is to raise and pivot the door 17 approximately 90without the sealing surface of the door 17 coming into contact with itsmating sealing surface on the frame M. During the last 5 of arm 29rotation, the horizontal motion of the door i7 far exceeds its verticalmotion and thereby cams or forces the faces of the two sealing surfacestogether. This is accomplished without any sliding action taking placebetween these surfaces during contact. FIG. 5b illustrates in vectorform the relative horizontal and vertical motions associated withsealing action. Sh represents the horizontal component of the resultantmotion SR and Sv represents the vertical component. With the door in theopen position, the SI1 and Sv vectors are approximately equal. As thecable is raised, the Sv vector decreases at a greater rate relative tothe Sh vector. Therefore, during nal cable motion, the instantaneousdoor motion is horizontal. It is thus seen that the camming actionreferred to in the specification is the horizontal motion of the door17, resulting from the combination of vertical cable 26 motion, roller32 reaction and rotary arm 29 motion.

Illustrated in the wall opening between the doors is a purged line 4l toremove atmospheric gases entering this opening thereby preventingpassage thereof to or out of the isolated space. Line 42 is an airsource for the pneumatic cylinder 40 which effects the locking of thedoor against the opening in the frame ld. A flexible electric cable 43furnishes the power for the cart drive 44 and the limit switches 27a and27b. Another cable 49 services the safety switches 45a and 45h. Thelimit switches 27a and 271: are actuated by contact with a closed dooror with the stops 46 positioned near the extreme end of the door in itsopen position. Shown at 47 and 43 is high density shielding such as leadto provide for the shielding which is reduced due to the openings in thewall occasioned by installing the system of the invention.

It is contemplated that when used in nuclear reactors, units of thistype are installed within reach of conventional manipulators so that themanipulator may readily grasp the material passed through the unit intothe seal and likewise place material to be removed from the seal ontothe open door or the opening preparatory to the removal.

When not in operation, both the doors 16 and 17 are in closed position.The operation in which the unit is used to pass articles through thewall, if it is desired, may be programmed with a control system so as toautomatically produce the proper sequence of movement in the equipment.Thus, when it is desired to introduce an article into a closed cell theproper programming would consist of opening the door l?, this movementis effected by rst releasing the pneumatic seal; camming the door untilit is slightly removed from contact with the door recess of the frame 14and then pivoting to open position by means of the arm 29 so that thehat track carrying portion of the door is rotated to horizontalposition. Proper aligning means are effected by the stop 34 and theguide roller 32 and slot 33 to provide a level condition for the trackportions Ztl and 2l as well as sections of the rack 22. Upon reachingalignment the transfer cart 1S automatically moves onto the door 7 untilit is stopped by the limit switch 27b contacting the stop 46. After thearticles have been placed in the transfer cart the cart moves onto thetrack Ztl until the limit switch 27a contacts the door 16 upon which themovement of the cart is stopped. The cart is now positioned between thedoors and the door 17 is actuated to closed position. When the door hasbeen sealed shut, there may be provided a suitable time delay duringwhich the chamber between the doors is evacuated through the purged line4l. Thereafter the safety switch 4511 which is now in contact with thedoor 17 and the switch 27 in contact with door 16 provide suitablesignals to permit the door 16 to automatically open. When the door 16 isin aligned position, the limit switch 27a is then freed of shut-offcondition. The cart is then driven until the limit switch 27a contactsthe stop 45 on the door lr6. The manipulator inside the cell thereuponremoves the article and upon proper impulse the cart is returned to aposition between the doors, and door lo is moved to closed position. Thedoor 17 may be opened after the door 16 has been sealed to removearticles which may have been placed on the transfer cart from the cell.

The interlock relationship between door 16, door 17 and cart 18 isdescribed in conjunction with the electrical diagram of FIG. 6. In FIG.6, switch 50 is a threeposition selector switch of conventional,commercially available design. Switches 45h, 45a, 27b and 27a areconventional, commercially available limit switches, each with a singlepole, double throw contact. The contacts shown on the electrical diagramof FIG. 6 are actually contacts of conventional relays which are, inturn, actuated by the limit switches listed above. Switches 4511, 45a,27b and 27a perform all interlock functions. Switches A and B which arefor control only are drive control limit switches comprisingconventional components of the drive mechanism for the door cables.

When the transfer device is not in use, switch 5t? is in the storageposition. The cart 1S is at rest in the cart storage position, which islocated between the inner and outer doors.

When the operator turns switch 50 to the inside position, the cart willmove towards the interior of the cell. When it reaches the inner door,limit switch 27a is actuated. Limit switch 27a stops the cart until theinner door is completely open. When the door is completely open, limitswitch 27a is deactivated; the cart continues until it hits the innerend stop and the cart motor is then de-energized by limit switch 27a.

If the operator turns switch 50 to the outside position, the abovedescription would be applicable except that the cart would go in thereverse direction and limit switch 27]; would be actuated when the cartmoves to the outer door.

If the operator desires to go from the interior of the cell to theoutside, he moves switch 5@ to the outside position. The cart 1S wouldthen move towards the storage position. When it reaches the outer door,limit switch 2'7b is actuated. Limit switch 27b stops the cart and alsocauses the inner door 16 to close. When the inner door is closed, theouter door then opens limit switch through 45a. When the outer door iscompletely open, limit switch 27b is deactivated and the cart continueson until limit switch 27b stops it at the outer end stop.

When the operator is nished with the cart, he moves the switch to thestorage position. The cart will then move to the storage position andstop. The inner or outer door will then close and the cart will be instorage position.

The inner door controls are interlocked so that the inner door cannotopen if the outer door is open due to limit switch 45h, and it cannotclose unless the cart is in the storage position due to limit switch27b.

In a like manner, the outer door controls are interlocked so that theouter door cannot open if the inner door is open due to limit switch 45aand it cannot close unless the cart is in the storage position due tolimit switch 27a.

Although a limited number of variations and details are presentedherein, it will be understood that various additional modificationsapparent to one skilled in the art may be incorporated in the conceptherein present without departing from the scope of the invention.Accordingly the invention is not to be limited by such modificationsexcept as necessitated by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolatedspace without exposure of the atmosphere in said space which comprisesin combination an article transfer carrier normally positioned in thewall which isolates said space, an outer door and an inner door spacedfrom said outer door, said doors having a at side upon which saidarticle transfer carrier may be transferred, as the door is horizontallypositioned, each door supported and guided for pivotal movement to openand closed position, an interlocking arrangement for said doorspreventing the opening of any one of said doors when the other is inopen position, means for actuating said doors and means carried by saidtransfer carrier for movement of said article transfer carrier throughsaid isolated space and onto said doors.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein an article transfer carrierpositioned in the space between said doors is coordinated so as to movetoward each of the doors after the respective door has attained an openposition.

3. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolatedspace without exposure of the atmosphere in said space, positioned inthe wall which isolates said space, which comprises in combination anouter door and an inner door spaced from said outer door, said doorshaving a flat side upon which said article transfer carrier may betransferred, as the door is horizontally positioned, each door supportedand guided for pivotal movement to open and closed position, aninterlocking arrangement for said doors preventing the opening of anyone of said doors when the other is in open position, an articletransfer carrier for transferring articles into and from the isolatedspace housed between said doors and onto said doors, mechanized meansfor actuating said doors and separate means coordinated with said dooractuating means for transferring said article transfer carrier, saidtransfer carrier being aranged to move from its housing between saiddoors and onto either of said doors when in the open position andautomatically to be stationed between said doors when both doors areclosed.

4. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolatedspace without exposure of the atmosphere in said space, positioned inthe wall which isolates said space, which comprises in combination anouter door and an inner door spaced from said outer door, said doorshaving a flat side upon which said article transfer carrier may betransferred, as the door is horizontally positioned, each door supportedand guided for pivotal movement to open and closed position, aninterlocking arrangement for said doors preventing the opening of anyone of said doors when the other is in open position, an articletransfer carrier for transferring articles into and from the isolatedspace housed between said doors and onto said doors in coordinatedarrangement with said doors, mechanized means for actuating said doorsand separate means coordinated with said door actuating means fortransferring said article transfer carrier, said transfer carrier beingarranged to automatically move from its housing between said doors andonto either of said doors when in the open position and to be stationedbetween said doors when both doors are closed.

5. An apparatus for transferring articles into and from an isolatedspace without exposure of the atmosphere in said space, positioned inthe Wall which isolates said space, which comprises in combination anouter semicylindrical door and an inner semi-cylindrical door spacedfrom said outer door, said doors having a lat side upon which saidarticle transfer carrier may be transferred, as the door is horizontallypositioned, each door supported and guided for pivotal movement to openand closed position, an interlocking arrangement for said doorspreventing the opening of any one of said doors when the other is inopen position, an article transfer carrier for transferring articlesinto and from the isolated space housed between said doors and onto saiddoors in coordinated arrangement with said doors, mechanized means foractuating said doors, separate means coordinated with said dooractuating means for transferring said article transfer carrier, saidtransfer carrier being arranged to automatically move from its housingbetween said doors and onto either of said doors when in the openposition and to be stationed between said doors when both doors areclosed and means for effecting a cammed sealing action on said doorswhen in the closed position.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. AN APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING ARTICLES INTO AND FROM AN ISOLATEDSPACE WITHOUT EXPOSURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN SAID SPACE WHICH COMPRISESIN COMBINATION AN ARTICLE TRANSFER CARRIER NORMALLY POSITIONED IN THEWALL WHICH ISOLATES SAID SPACE, AN OUTER DOOR AND AN INNER DOOR SPACEDFROM SAID OUTER DOOR, SAID DOORS HAVING A FLAT SIDE UPON WHICH SAIDARTICLE TRANSFER CARRIER MAY BE TRANSFERRED, AS THE DOOR IS HORIZONTALLYPOSITIONED, EACH DOOR SUPPORTED AND GUIDED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT TO OPENAND CLOSED POSITION, AN INTERLOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR SAID DOORSPREVENTING THE OPENING OF ANY ONE OF SAID DOORS WHEN THE OTHER IS INOPEN POSITION, MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID DOORS AND MEANS CARRIED BY SAIDTRANSFER CARRIER FOR MOVEMENT OF SAID ARTICLE TRANSFER CARRIER THROUGHSAID ISOLATED SPACE AND ONTO SAID DOORS.